Believe
it or not, I was thinking that my column of two weeks ago was my last
column in which I would focus on Congressman Ron Paul--that was before
the Republican National Convention in Tampa took place. I have never
seen such a disgusting display of chicanery and duplicity in all of
my life. So, in spite of the fact that I have written so much about
The Greatest Congressman In US History (my title for Ron Paul), here
I go again.

First,
a report on Paul Fest: I was honored to be one of the featured speakers
for the event, which drew thousands of Ron Paul supporters from all
over the country. I was able to meet and speak with hundreds of these
wonderful people, as they came up to me before and after I spoke.

Not
only was I surprised at how many of these people read this column, but
how many are watching our Sunday services that we livestream each Sunday
afternoon. I am convinced that there are hundreds of thousands of patriot
Christians who are fed up with mainstream churches and pastors, who
are hungering and thirsting for patriot pastors who know what's going
on and are not afraid to speak the truth. Not able to find such pastors
where they live, they are tuning in to our services on the Internet.

The
service at Liberty Fellowship is broadcast live each Sunday at approximately
2:30pm Mountain Time. To access the service live this Sunday, click
here.

Next,
the thought of Ron Paul no longer being our champion on Capitol Hill
is extremely disconcerting! There is sadness in my heart at Dr. Paul's
departure from Congress that I don't think I've ever felt. The only
instance I can think of that comes close is when Helen Chenoweth of
Idaho term-limited herself in order to fulfill her word of honor to
her constituents. (It was even sadder to hear of her untimely death
a few years ago.) But Dr. Paul's absence in Congress will leave a void
that is difficult to describe. Suffice it to say, as Congress is currently
comprised, there is no one on Capitol Hill who comes close to taking
his place. But it is the way that this champion of liberty was treated
by the GOP establishment that has my blood boiling!

Anyone
who has paid any attention to what the Republican Party has done to
Ron Paul and his supporters must be thoroughly outraged at the injustice
and injurious treatment inflicted, not only upon Ron and his followers,
but also upon the integrity of a free and fair political process. In
short, we don't have a free and fair political process in America anymore!
What we have is a Soviet-style political apparatus that thrives on manipulation,
intimidation, and downright dishonesty.

The
RNC was so blatantly manipulative and crooked that the Republican governor
of Maine, Paul LePage, justifiably boycotted the convention--and the
Maine Ron Paul delegation understandably all left in protest. The video
tribute the RNC played at the convention in honor of Congressman Paul
(while very good as far as it went) was shown in an attempt to placate
Ron's millions of supporters. However, in actuality it was the height
of hypocrisy, as the RNC had pulled out every underhanded and unethical
trick in the book in order to make sure that Ron Paul was never given
a chance to prevail as the Republican nominee for President. Of course,
the national propaganda press corps was a willing accomplice to the
RNC destruction of Ron's campaign.

But
the establishment's ultimate insult to the twelve-term congressman occurred
as Ron Paul and his wife tried to leave Tampa using a private plane.
Lew Rockwell posted this: "Ron, Carol, and one of their granddaughters
left the GOP snake pit yesterday afternoon, but the State was not yet
through with them. At the little airport in Clearwater, 8 TSA agents
descended on them and ordered them not to board their private plane.
First, the pilots, the airplane, and the passengers would have to be
screened in great detail, because Romney might be nearby. After a long
examination of the pilots and their credentials, the agents said they
had to check the plane for explosives. One of the pilots noted that
the plane, full of gas, was already a bomb. Then Carol Paul, who has
a heart pacemaker, refused to be screened, and an aide started taking
video of the whole rotten proceeding. At that point, the TSA backed
down and let them through."

Such
is the way a totalitarian-state-in-the-making treats a 76-year-old congressman
with more than two decades of seniority and three-time candidate for
President of the United States! Welcome to the United Soviet Socialist
America!

Now,
with millions of so-called Christians and conservatives lining up in
support of the phony conservative Mitt Romney, the American people are
once again left with the choice of Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum. No,
I don't buy the "anybody-but-Obama" mantra, either! In many
ways, an unprincipled, compromising pseudo-conservative Republican is
worse than an obviously liberal Democrat. The patriots of 1776 had far
more to fear from Benedict Arnold than they did King George. An enemy
easily identified is much less formidable than one who marches in the
uniform of an ally.

That
being said, where do we go from here?

Regardless
who is elected President in November, nothing will be done to stop,
or even slow down, America's lust for foreign entanglements and wars.
And that means nothing will be done to stop or slow down the burgeoning
police state that is enveloping our nation. By 2016, there won't be
many liberties left in this country, regardless which party captures
the White House. That is an absolute certainty! With the approbation
and blessing of both Romney and Obama, the police and warfare states--not
to mention the size and growth of government--will continue to accelerate
at an unprecedented scale.

At
this point, I am going to borrow from notable researcher and analyst
Joel Skousen. In my opinion, his analysis regarding the "Where
are we going" question is absolutely spot on. Here I share with
readers Skousen's sagacity. My condensed version of his comments follows.

"1)
The [American] people are no longer worthy of liberty. Americans as
a whole are soft, materialistic and too content with life to fight,
let alone recognize the loss of liberty. As long as they are allowed
to go to church and buy what they want, they think they are free. But
the noose is tightening. The youth are even softer, so the trend is
in the wrong direction. Americans may still consider themselves a religious
people, but religion, for the most part, doesn't change their little
bad habits, so at some point their religion is not leading to righteousness.
They stop listening to the refining voice of conscience. Religious people
don't even honor the Sabbath anymore.

"To
the Lord, listening to the personal promptings of conscience is where
the real test of religiosity lies and most Christians are chronic violators
of conscience in the 'little things' relative to weight control, nutrition,
recreation choices, use of time and failure to discipline children.
Trouble is, this callous disregard for the 'still small voice' leads
to bigger problems and worse decisions. That is why immorality and divorce
are high even among church goers. There are notable exceptions, but
in general America is getting more unworthy to be saved by God.

"2)
Americans are lazy about finding truth. Today, more than ever with the
vast information on the web, the truth is out there (except for most
of the deepest and darkest secrets of conspiracy), and if people don't
find it, something is wrong with them relative to the workings of conscience
and self control. That's my point. Far too many people have become immune
to the faint warning signals that something is wrong, or if they do
hear it, they are too busy searching for material welfare to care.

"[3]
States have become corrupt too: It is only partially true that state
and local governments are easier to reform than the federal government.
All state governments have corruption problems and some states like
California, Illinois and New York have corruption machines that rival
the mafia. Most large cities are also totally corrupt inside. That said,
some states are clearly less corrupt than others, but there is an establishment
good 'old boy network, closely allied with the liberal press in every
major city that works together to make sure than no Ron Paul or free
market revolutionary gains control.

"What
about the God is in Control argument? Optimistic Christian conservatives
always throw out the argument that 'God is in Control' and so we don't
have to worry. He has the power to change things. As a believer, I agree.
He does have the power. But the real question is will He intervene to
save us? And, is America worthy of being saved by God? I don't think
so anymore. That doesn't mean all is lost for everyone, but it does
point to us heading for a great period of tribulation and the loss of
liberty at the national level as it morphs into the NWO. I'm a religious
person, and keep my eyes open constantly searching for signs that God
is intervening as he did in the nation's founding-- allowing a set of
leaders to rise to positions of influence where they can turn the tide,
or even allowing major financing to come to principled people so they
can bypass the establishment media, or schools, and fund a national
movement to renew America. Nothing has happened. The big money only
goes to ineffective or mainstream causes. We do have ample numbers of
great thinkers with ideals and principles as profound as America's founders,
but none have been allowed to rise in power. Ron Paul got the closest.
Those ministers who have achieved great wealth and fame in televangelism
have done so by singing the easy gospel that people want to hear. Those
that have been granted access to the White House prayer breakfast meetings
during the Bush administration were those who refused to speak up or
criticize the big government or war agenda. All the real champions of
freedom have been left on the sidelines. Ron Paul is the only one to
even get close to a run at the presidency and he has been shut down--but
not without building the movement. I've seen God's hand helping to gather
the remnant, but no indications of any real optimism toward beating
the mammoth evil that is growing even faster than the Liberty Movement.

"Considering
the overwhelming moral evil in our nation that burdens the Lord's sense
of justice, I think He is bound to let the sword of justice fall. You
can't just manufacture specific faith in a proposed event by hope only
or wishful thinking. For specific faith in a hoped for event to be valid,
you have to have the spiritual confirmation that it is the Lord's will,
and that must come from God and not rosy-eyed optimism. While the Lord
might certainly want the nation to be saved, God himself cannot arbitrarily
disregard the decree of justice upon which the universe operates. Only
upon terms of repentance and change of heart can condemnation be averted,
and I don't see that happening. I'm keeping an open heart and mind that
it might, but the signs aren't good."

But
it is Skousen's conclusion that truly speaks to my heart. He writes:

"We
can still fight for liberty to gain a minority foothold within the nation--a
resistance movement, if you will, even if we can't win back the whole.
But when you are dealing with a minority of good people, to exercise
any power at all, you have to congregate together so that you have a
majority in a region or local area. Our greatest problem in a losing
battle of attrition is that we are spread out uniformly across the nation--dispersed
in a sea of humanity where none of us constitute a majority.

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"If
there is any hope for liberty it will be because pockets of liberty
and resistance form during the next war when government itself is busy
saving itself and not targeting freedom-loving dissidents--yet. I think
you'll see the time, when crisis comes that the social unrest will drive
people out of their current places and the Lord will inspire those who
can listen to go to places of refuge where other like-minded people
are also gathering. Some will be inspired to go to safe places before
the crisis, and if you are one of those, heed the promptings."

My
take differs only slightly from Skousen's: I believe when the crisis
comes, people will not be able to relocate, which is why the Lord is
inspiring people to relocate NOW, and why the gathering of eagles is
already taking place here in Montana's Flathead Valley and in other
places.

If
my understanding of scriptures is close to accurate, one of the signs
that God is giving a nation or people over to judgment is a dearth of
principled leadership. Ron Paul's departure from Congress--along with
the way the Republican Party, the national media, and the American people
as a whole, rejected his message of liberty and constitutional government--make
it appear that judgment has already begun.

•
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Chuck
Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and pastor
dedicated to preserving the historic principles upon which America was
founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution Party.
He and his wife, Connie, have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. Chuck and
his family reside in the Flathead Valley of Montana. See
Chuck's complete bio here.

Anyone who has paid
any attention to what the Republican Party has done to Ron Paul and his
supporters must be thoroughly outraged at the injustice and injurious
treatment inflicted, not only upon Ron and his followers, but also upon
the integrity of a free and fair political process.